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Friends–
There are days along any journey that stick with you, and today was one of them.
Under blue Indian Summer skies, more than 12,000 people from every corner of the country descended on Washington DC; then, with great precision, they fanned out to surround the White House and take a stand against the Keystone XLoil pipeline.
Here are just a couple of pictures from the day, and you can see lots more by clicking here.What speaker after speaker today made clear (and they came from every part of our movement: indigenous leaders, labor organizers, environmentalists, young people, preachers) was that today was in no way a grand finale — there’s lots more work to do.
I have no idea how this battle is going to come out — only that, together, we stand a chance to shut down this dirty pipeline and shift the flow not just of oil, but of history. This day was an important part of that history, and we’ll carry its power with us as we take this fight forward.
Thanks in advance for all the work we’ll do together, shoulder-to-shoulder, on the road ahead.
Onwards,
Bill McKibben for the 350.org team
P.S. This movement milestone deserves to be shared, so forward along this email — and share it on Facebook by clicking here or share it on Twitter by clicking here.

Last week, actor Mark Ruffalo took “the people’s microphone” at Occupy Wall Street — not to promote a new movie, but to issue a powerful call to action. In under three minutes, Mark connects the dots between the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, fracking, Occupy Wall Street, and the big action planned in DC for November 6th. Mark’s speech captures exactly the kind of energy we’ll need to win this fight.Click here to watch Mark’s video, and click here to share it on Facebook.
People across the country have been feeling frustrated: frustrated with the corporate control of our democracy, frustrated with the rising levels of pollution in our atmosphere, and frustrated by the lack of a movement powerful enough to turn the tide. We are seeing that frustration reflected in the #occupy events that are growing throughout the country — but frustration alone is not enough.As Mark says in the video, the task ahead of us is to “turn our grief into winnable action. November 6th is a winnable action!”
The November 6th action in DC is shaping up to be a historical mobilization for this movement. As Mark describes it, “We’re going to make a Human Chain around the White House — to remind Obama to unlink his arms with the corporations, the gas and oil industry, and entwine his arms with the people that he is in charge of taking care of.”
Sounds like a plan to me.
Let’s do this,
Jamie Henn, 350.org

QUESTIONS and MORE INFOWhere can I get more information about the November 6th action in DC?
You can sign up here and get more logistical info right here. Also, tonight at 8 PM Eastern Time, Bill McKibben will be hosting a live video chat to talk about what we need to do before November 6th to make this action even bigger. To join in, just go to www.tarsandsaction.org/video-chat at 8 PM Eastern and press play.What is “fracking”?Hydraulic fracturing, AKA “fracking”, is is a method of gas extraction that involves injecting highly-toxic chemicals deep underground to fracture rock formations. There are significant concerns about the effects of fracking on drinking water quality, air quality, and greenhouse gas emissions. Who is this Mark Ruffalo guy?
You probably recognize him from popular movies — recently he’s been in “The Kids are All Right”, “You Can Count on Me”, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, and more. Recently, Mark has emerged as a powerful spokesperson and campaigner for the anti-fracking movement. What is the people’s microphone — and why is everyone repeating what Mark says in the video?
At Occupy Wall Street in New York, amplified sound (speakers, megaphones, etc. ) are prohibited, so people have gotten creative in order to make their voices heard. When someone uses the “people’s mic”, a speaker will say a line, and then everyone in earshot will repeat it and amplify it so the larger group can hear. It can be a bit slow going, but it’s proven to be a powerful tool for the direct democracy that’s at work at #occupy events around the country.

I’m writing from New York City, where the Occupy Wall Street movement is taking off.
What started as a small group of young people with a vague call to action is evolving into something truly inspiring — and our crew at 350.org is excited to support this nascent movement.Here’s what Bill McKibben had to say about “The 99%” who are Occupying Wall Street — and how climate change fits into the picture:

Let’s show the activists in New York (and in cities all over the country and the world) that the climate movement stands in solidarity with them.Share this image on Facebook, post it on Twitter, and consider joining a local “occupation” near you. Engage in dialogue and join the conversation that is shaping one of the most exciting grassroots movements in recent memory.

It’s hard to believe that just 10 days ago, I was in the afterglow of Moving Planet, sorting through inspirational photos from people all over the world who were moving beyond fossil fuels. The images were powerful, and they fired me up for whatever came next.

What came next was the Occupy Wall Street movement. In the last two weeks it has grown from something small, local, and overlooked by the media into something massive, global, and unignorable. There are now non-violent protests springing up in hundreds of cities, and stories of “the 99%” are dominating headlines everywhere. No one knows exactly what it will become — but it has the potential to be a true game-changer.

We now face exciting questions: what can we all do to support and expand this groundswell? And how might Occupy Wall Street’s amazing energy further embolden the climate movement?

The answers to these questions are starting to become clear. Two days ago I joined a crew of passionate climate activists in Manhattan to march with tens of thousands of people as part of Occupy Wall Street. The demands from the crowd were varied, but it all boils down to this: just about every problem we now face — from foreclosures to the climate crisis — is made worse by unchecked corporate greed and a corrupt political process. As I marched through the city, it struck me that naming (and acting on) the root causes of the world’s biggest problems is precisely what this moment demands.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be zeroing in on the root causes of the climate crisis, and focusing on the iconic battles in the fight for our planet’s future. In the near term, we’ll be focused on stopping the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline–a key fight where corporate corruption and environmental justice collide. If we can stop the pipeline we’ll send a resounding message across the country: that it’s time for the health of our communities and our planet to come before the profits of Wall Street and big polluters. President Obama will decide by the end of the year on whether to approve the pipeline, and we’ll be scaling up our activism to keep the pressure on.

From Wall Street to Washington DC to cities across the country, big things are coming together, and there are ways for people everywhere to join in. You can go to TarSandsAction.org to get plugged into the fight to stop the Keystone pipeline, and OccupyTogether.org to find out more about joining the 99%.

The next phase of these movements will be a sprint, not a marathon. It’s an honor to be running it with all of you.

Oil companies want to build a huge pipeline from Canada to Texas to open up new markets for tar-sand oil, the dirtiest fossil fuel on earth. But Obama could refuse the permit— and a wave of protests are trying to convince him to do the right thing. Sign the petition before it’s delivered to the White Houseon Saturday:

Right now, hundreds of people are being arrested in Washington, DC in a historic wave of peaceful civil disobedience — the biggest such environmental protest in a generation.

Why this outcry? Because President Obama faces a crucial decision that will shape the earth’s climate for decades: whether to reject the notoriously destructive Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry nearly a million barrels of tar-sand oil each day from Canada to refineries in Texas.

Canada’s tar sands are the world’s second-biggest pool of carbon, and NASA’s top climate scientist says that burning them would be “essentially game over” for the climate.But the pipeline can only be built if Obama certifies that it’s in our “national interest.” So the demonstrators are building a massive appeal to the president — and they’ll deliver our signatures as the protests reach their climax tomorrow. Click to sign on:

Environmentalist Bill McKibben says the oil in these tar sands is the contintent’s “biggest carbon bomb.” And getting oil out of tar sands is even dirtier than regular oil drilling: It requires strip-mining whole fields, creating lakes of toxic sludge, and just extracting it produces two to four times as many greenhouse gases as regular oil.

Scientists also worry that the Keystone XL pipeline could leak, poisoning the Ogallala Aquifier, the largest underground source of drinking water in the United States. The last Keystone pipeline, built last year, has already had at least a dozen spills.

Over 800 committed demonstrators have already been arrested, from grandmothers and first-time activists to movie stars like Daryl Hannah and scientists like Dr. James Hansen. Obama’s press secretary is being asked about it at briefings and the protests have received floods of national media attention.

Our signatures will join those collected by huge coalition of environmental groups, including Avaaz’s friends at 350, for a massive, high-profile delivery at the White House tomorrow. Let’s make this too big to ignore:

Sometimes, climate change can feel too massive to affect. But in this moment, with this pipeline, the stroke of the president’s pen can make a gigantic difference. And whether we win or lose each day, it’s up to us to keep fighting — to show up when it counts, every time.

Long from now, when the story of this era is written, the movement that beat climate change will be traced through our fingertips, through the widening circles of solidarity for those most at risk, and through the sacrifice and vision of those who led the way. The echoes of our actions will one day build to a mighty roar.

We’re entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way.

Avaaz.org is a 9-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decision-making. (“Avaaz” means “voice” or “song” in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 13 countries on 4 continents and operates in 14 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz’s biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

This isn’t an everyday request. I’d like you to consider doing something really big: joining me and nearly 2,000 people, and risking arrest to stop President Obama from making a really big mistake.

The President must decide before the end of the year if he will approve or deny the Keystone XL pipeline.

It would ship environmentally catastrophic Canadian tar sands oil through Texas to the Gulf of Mexico; posing a massive spill risk along the way, and speeding the rapid consumption of this oil across the globe, essentially spelling “game over” for our hope of returning earth to a stable climate.1

It’s up to President Obama. He does not have to negotiate with Congress or industry.As his State Department reviews the permit, the decision — which could have a devastating impact on the livability of our nation, and our world — is entirely in his hands.

We’ve lost too many climate fights already. We need a massive, historic show of pressure to make sure we don’t lose this one. The President just granted approval for offshore oil drilling in the Arctic and recently opened vast new areas to coal mining. And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton previously said she was “inclined” to approve this pipeline. But now it’s up to President Obama to defuse the largest carbon bomb on the continent.

To raise massive pressure on the President, there will be a historic daily sit-in in front of the White House every day from August 20th to September 3rd.

Nearly 2,000 people — over 100 a day — have already signed up for a day to risk arrest in peaceful protest. I’ll be there. And so will other CREDO staffers and CREDO Action members, many of us who are traveling across the country to take a stand. Can you be there for one of the days, too?

This action is being organized by leading climate activists including Bill McKibben, Naomi Klein and climate scientist James Hansen. The CEOs and directors of nearly 30 leading environmental organizations, including CREDO’s Michael Kieschnick and Laura Scher, are urging people to participate.2

While arrests are a potential outcome from this action — being arrested is not the goal: Our intent is to send a message that these issues are so urgent and serious that we will escalate our pressure and commitment to make sure that the Keystone XL Pipeline is not approved. If that involves risking arrest, we are prepared and willing to take that risk and deal with the consequences. We believe that the risks of inaction are far greater than the risks of taking action.

Sit-ins and civil disobedience were at the heart of the civil rights movement, and helped end South African apartheid.

Today, in this summer of record-breaking extreme weather, corporate polluters have more power than ever to block sustainable energy sources and keep us locked in our destructive dependence on fossil fuels. Oil refining giants like the Koch brothers want to build this pipeline to build their fortune, shipping the tar sands oil from Texas to be burned across the globe.

But President Obama does not have to negotiate with them, or the global warming deniers in congress who do their bidding.

It is President Obama’s decision alone — but it’s up to us to make sure that he feels so much pressure that he can’t possibly approve this pipeline to disaster.

Please read the invitation from the organizers below this message and join me, other CREDO staff, CREDO Action members and nearly 2000 Americans in taking a stand against dirty oil, to powerfully urge our president to do the same.

We know we’re asking a lot. You should think long and hard on it, and pray if you’re the praying type. But to us, it’s as much privilege as burden to get to join this fight in the most serious possible way. We hope you’ll join us.